Lung protector



Patented Nov. 20, '1923.'

YBennati!GRIER, rrmzLE'roN,rnivivsynvaivrn. l Y

Y Lorie Pao'rnoroa.'

` App1icaiin'1edizra5 276.1920. semi Noissfijus.

. To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ROBERT Granen, -a citi- Y zen of the United Statesfresiding at Hazleor other like matter' carried by the air to prevent the passage of such matter tothe lungs during inhalation. Y f Y.

Air, especially in cities, is more or less charged with particles of dust and with disease germs, and while the human nose is provided with natural protection preventing the free passage of such matter to the lungs, such protection is often inefficient. In the 'open country the deleterious matter lis usually so diluted as to cause little or no harm, butin cities, or in places of crowded assemblage, the dust, though ordinarily not visible, is too thick to be taken care of by the natural protecting means growing in Vthe nasal passages. Y In so'me industries, suchk as coal' mining, metal working, grinding, milling or the like the effects ofv dust is often seriousl and sometimes fatal to human beings, and masks which are always more or less Vobtrusive are employed'to prevent access ofthe iioating dust to the lungs.

.There are also occasions, as in disease epidemics, 'where the disease is'transmissible 'through the air, where the transmission ofl the disease may be prevented by a filtering'A action onl the air. Y l

` In order" that Vtheruse of the preventative means may be rendered popular and therefore correspondingly efficient, the invention contemplates ythe use y'of aY filtering -material such as sponge', which may bc readily-introduced'in'to the nostrils and which-.has the faculty of absorbing Amoisture and swelling because of such absorption, wherefore a plug of the spongewill hold its place in the nostrils without the necessity of any holding means, except that'the sponge plugs for the separate nostrils be securedv together by a piece Vof thread facilitating the removal -ofr the'plugs and preventingthem from rising in the-nostrils beyond a-'predetermined point, f

because of the engagement thread with thefseptum ofthe nose.

While the sponge Vis a more or lessporous substance it lis also more or less obstructive to the passageof air :through it, Vand yet in order vto serve the purpose intended itshould bequite free to thev passage of air in 'breathingr For this purpose the spongel plugs have numerous holes punched inthemin of the 'junction l v various' directions, wherefore so little olol struction is 'offered' to breathingfthat the presence of the plugs is not noticeable to theusertand, sinceV the plugs are located f well up into the nostrils," the presence of the plugs is not observed by others.

The inventionwill be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying.drawings forming part of this specification', with the understanding, however, that the invention is not-coninedto any strict conformity with the'shovs'fing in1 the drawings, fied soV long as such changes and-modificabut may be changed and modi-` tions markno'material-'departure from the 1 "y salient features of thel invention as expressed in the appended rclai In 'the' drawings l Fig. l is a View tion ofthe Ainventionto the human'nose.

showing the "applica- 'Y `Fig@ is a perspective viewof .theproi i.

tectincr device ready .fol-lapplcatio'nto the nostrisg.` f Y Fig. 3 is a'liatte'ned Vout viewof-'fthe' protecting device when the'sponge is dry and.

before it isapplied to the nostrils.Y Fig. l is la View similar tol VFigiQbutwith the sponge plug seen at about V to the showing of Fig. 2g p Y Fig." 5 is a view of one of the sponge plugs, on ay larger `scale than natural, and showing th'ervarious directions of artificially produced passages through the-sponge. y

Referring to the drawings there'are shown sin' rightLan'gles two sponge plugsl and 2, the sponge being consideredv as the best material to use for the purpose, since the sponge may becompressed into small compass and will retain such smallv size when dry, andis cheap, be-

Lwhich may be formed preferably O liber and sewed into or otherwise joined to or joining thesponge plugs. The thread also has the advantage yoif'being cheap so that the entire structure may be madel very cheaply and, when used as long as "desired, may be thrown away since the` devices may be 'furnished at such extremely small cost that thereis no necessityto cleanse them and preservethem. Ylltv is not even necessary to tie the ends of the` thread strand 3 to the sponge plugs l and 2 for two or three stitches of thethreadmavfvbe ,taken in thek sponge plugs as indicated-at 4, this being found to be ample-for the purpose of preventingy the thread ends from pulling out. The sponge plugs remain in a moist conditionbecause of the natural moisture of the breath passing through the plugs.

Because of the resistance of sponge to the ready iow,l ofair therethrough, it is found necessary to punch or perforate the sponge plugsfwith numerous passages 5 in different directions and-:intersecting to someI eXtent. These passages may be quite smallv with their walls sutliciently irregular to be more or less in the pathof the currents of air caused by breathing, and the sponge walls being `quite moistboth byI initial kmoistening and by absorption of the moisture from the outflowing breath, particles of dust of variousV kinds engage andfstick to the-walls of the passages through the plugs and are therebyl arrested in their course toward the lungs and arev retained 'by the plugs..

In Fig. 5 the sponge plug, which may be considered as plug 1, is shown as provided with many periforations v5, but itis not necessary that there. should be` as many perforations as indicated, although the invention is; not conined to any particular number oit suchvperforations; Nor. is it at all obligato-ry that the pertorations should .be of a` certain size, for in practise they are quite smallg-the only requisiteV being that in number and size theperforations shall permit the A'free iiow oli air in` breathing with the perforations small enough. to arrest the particles of dust passing` toward the lungs through the nostrils.

When the lungA protector is installed it is inoistened sufticiently to cause the sponge to swel-l tocan extentto lodge in the nostrils. rlheswelling of' the sponge, how ever, is insutlicientfto'icause any obstruction tothe passages through the sponge so that free yflow of thel breath is unobstructed. VV-orkers'inrdust laden atmosphere, as in mills ofrvarious, kinds, or in-.inill working where grinding and the like occurs, the

moist walls providedV by the passages through the sponge collect the dust and hold it back troni the lungs. in crowded assembiages where there is liability of rebreathing eXha-lations from the lungs of others anything vcarried `by the air and whichv might be harmiiulV to the person breathingit is caught by the sponge while in the moist condition andreadily adheres to the sponge, thus;V being prevented from reaching the lungs or the breather. The capacity of the sponge-*plugs is amply suiiicient to last yfor a considerable time, say for a day, so that it is not necessary to replace the lung protectors except at infrequent intervals. This may be done by removing the plugsat night while the person is at restand placing fresh plugs in thenostrils inthe morning. Again when a person is liable tobe ysubjected to conditions whereJ disease is present lthe protector may be usedvonly duringy suchitime. Where the person is subjected to bad working conditions the lprotector may bev used only duringvthe prevalence of suchconditions. In any event the protector may be completely discarded under other conditions, although itis so unobtrusive that itmay be worn without annoyance of anyv kind for longer periods. ln act,the wearer may be entirely,unconscious ofthe presence ofthe protector and may wear tlior a much longer periodthan a day. However, thedevice is ot such extremely cheap construction that economicalE reasons need= not prevent the discarding of the protector atinore 'frequent intervals-than once a day. v

ill e thread 3 constitutes convenient means for removing-the sponge vplugs when desired and for preventing the-insertion of the vplugs tomore than a limited eXtentinto thenostrils. The sponge-s when'swol-lenv by moisture readily. hold their placesv and are Vcool feeling so that the user quickly. becomes and the like, there is also protection against Y.

thebreathing in ofv disease germs, for; the` .moist sponge will stop the passage of such germs. from the nostrils into` the lungs. Moreover, the protector may be employed as a `carrier for medicaments otfvarious kinds whereby the mur-ous v membranes and` the lungs to which they lead may `be treated, the preparations for which, .the'sponge plugs may be utilized as carriers dependingupon the character. oit the disease with which such membranes mayvbe atllicted.

The invention is also particularly useful in connection with; automobile riding v and, to fa less extent, in anyvform1 of travel ywhere, dust-is encountered, and `fits eXtremely-snrall cost-permits the use of the invention whereL more; elaborate devices might=prove prohibitive because of expense.

' 1,474,710 Y a j Whatiselaimed is: v v v A lung protector ycomprising a pair of formed therethrough indiierentfdirectons.

plugsihaving minute passgesartieially i sponge plugs connected'by' a thread having 'In testimony that I Claim' the foregoingy IY 1 its ends Secured to the respective plugs, as my own, I havev hereto axedmy `Sig-V f f.

V5 Whereby'the latter may be introduced into nature. v y

the nostrils of the user, with thel thread em- Y f bracing the septumofnthe nose, said sponge Y' ROBERT GRIER. Y 

